StarCitizen:Planet Tech v5

The culmination of StarCitizen:Cloud Imperium's work on planet creation, to be delivered in stages starting with Alpha 4.11, Planet Tech v5 is a simple, scalable workflow for planet artists that uses physically-based rules with Genesis data pools to emulate nature, with continuous variation to biomes and extremely high visual density where appropriate. Planetary data includes the Temperature and Humidity from StarCitizen:Planet Tech v4, plus Geology, Soil Type, Soil Depth and Nutrients. Additional data such as Sunlight exposure and Slope Aspect can also be derived. This data drives the assignment and unrepetitively tiled blending of terrain textures, the distribution of each individual type of [[StarCitizen::Category:Flora|Flora]] based on competition rules and override variables, and the placement of rocks and debris derived from erosion simulation. Physics-interactable (from any source) assets can be included in distributions. Tree leaves are tinted and shed based on various input factors, one of which is Seasons that play out over time. The planet shader is able to draw on data to evaluate required terrain color when viewed at a distance - taking into account the distribution of assets that are not loaded in, such as trees or StarCitizen:grass. Performance is improved and pop-in is eliminated.

Archetypes for emergent biomes are created as asset packs using the new workflow:

File:Swamps.png	Swamps - High Moisture, Medium to High Temperature - includes assets that interact with water surfaces
File:Jungles.png	Jungles - High Rainfall and Sunlight year-round - includes assets that exhibit stratification
File:Redwoods.png	Redwoods - Regular Rainfall and modal Temperature - includes assets that emphasize extreme scale

Additional features of v5 include planetary-scale terrain features (such as the obsidian scar on StarCitizen:Adir), surface fog, cloud-light interactions and support for dynamic weather, StarCitizen:Starchitect, StarCitizen:StarAudio, data-driven StarCitizen:NPC behaviors and StarCitizen:StarSim.

Gallery

<tabber> Alpha 4.11= Template:Gallery |-| CitizenCon 2025= Template:Gallery |-| CitizenCon 2024= Template:Gallery </tabber>

Development

2024-01	The Planet Tech team has started improving the editor's workflow for planet creation and planning Planet Tech v5.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
2024-03	The Planet Tech team start the work on Planet Tech v5, with initial focus on the groundwork required to set up spatial partitioning. They’re deciding how this will work with Server Meshing and server-crash recovery. The devs also introduced the concept of ‘default planets’ for the internal editor so that it’s trivial for anyone to create and use a planet for testing.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
2024-10-20	Planet Tech v5 was revealed at StarCitizen:CitizenCon 2024 alongside Genesis and StarCitizen:Starchitect. Three biomes were showcased to demonstrate the rendering.
2025-03	Planet Tech v5 has made "good progress", with improvements in shading and the distribution of denser rock formations using more physically accurate placement. The virtual terrain system is nearing completion, with ongoing work focused on real-time compression.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
2025-07	StarCitizen:Sean Tracy mentioned at StarCitizen:Quantum Vegas 2955 that there's a specific StarCitizen:planet being worked on with it and for it.<ref>Quantum Vegas 2955: Session 1: "Tech & Tools" with Sean Tracy, Quantum Vegas 2955, July 21 2025</ref>
2025-10-11	StarCitizen:CitizenCon 2025: Planet Tech v5 is being showcased for StarCitizen:Nyx I, which will be the first to feature it in 2026.

See also

• StarCitizen:Planet Tech v5 (triggerfish)

References

• CitizenCon 2024 Panel - Brave New Worlds on YouTube